1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an apparatus for placing shingles onto a roof in an orderly manner. In particular, the invention relates to an apparatus that allows for quick and accurate placement of shingles onto a roof of a structure, such as a house.
2. Description of the Related Art
During construction of a house or other type of structure, once the frame of the house has been constructed, the roof can then be installed. Typically, this involves the placement of shingles onto the roof frame, in a standard manner so as to allow for rain or other precipitation to flow off of the roof and onto a drainage system (i.e., drain spouts on the side of the house). Using conventional methods, the placement of shingles onto the roof is a time-consuming and error-prone effort, in which typically a group of persons work together to first place the shingles onto the roof in rows, and then staple the shingles in place. When one row is complete, the workers move onto a next row to continue the process.
For standard roofs, the rows are placed 5" apart from each other, with the first row placed approximately 111/2" from the edge of the roof. After the placement of the first row, shingles of the second row are shifted 6" with respect to the shingles of the first row, shingles of the third row are shifted 6" with respect to the shingles of the second row (and are thus in alignment with the shingles of the first row), and so on. By this arrangement, the shingles overlap each other, as well as having a lattice-like appearance when placed onto the roof.
There are several conventional apparatuses that have been developed to assist roofers in the proper placement of shingles onto a residential or commercial structure. One such apparatus is disclosed by L. Barnett III, in a patent entitled "Strip Shingle Alignment Fixtures", U.S. Pat. No. 4,056,889. Barnett's apparatus allows for the alignment of strip shingles for roofing and siding, in which an elongated alignment guide is provided for supporting the lower edges of the shingles to be laid on the roof. The alignment guide includes several sections, some equal in length to two standard strip shingles, and others equal in length to one standard strip shingle. FIG. 1 shows Barnett's apparatus, with a lip provided for laying the shingles along a row in an accurate manner.
Another such conventional shingle application apparatus is disclosed by R. Sucheck, in a patent entitled "Shingle Gage", U.S. Pat. No. 4,110,911. Sucheck discloses a shingle gage that allows for alignment of a second row of shingles onto a first row of shingles that have been fixed to a roof of a structure. The shingle gage includes a first member having a first alignment surface which abuts one longitudinal edge of the fixed row of shingles, and a second member attached to the first member and which includes a second alignment surface adapted to abut against one longitudinal edge of the second row of shingles. Such an apparatus is shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, with FIG. 2 shows the apparatus 10 on a roof having shingles 50, and with FIG. 3 showing the first member 12 and the second member 14. With this apparatus, the first member 12 and the second member 14 are threadably engaged by nuts so that the members are substantially parallel but spaced apart from each other. Once this is done, a strip of shingles for a second row of shingles can be placed in alignment with already-attached shingles corresponding to a first row of shingles.
U.S. Pat. No. Des. 335,461, issued to H. Horsley, Jr., discloses a design of a straight edge for aligning a shingle onto a roof. Such a device is shown as element 80 in FIG. 4.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,018,279, issued to C. Williams, discloses a strip shingle alignment tool 70, as seen in FIG. 5. The tool 70 is used to position square tab shingles on a roof surface in alignment with shingle strips already fastened to the roof. The tool 70 includes a long straight shingle positioning plate having a base flange extending a right angles up away from the base flange. The tool 70 also includes two clamps that extend back from the base flange, with each clamp having a upper jaw mounted to the positioning plate and a lower jaw pivoted to the upper jaw. FIG. 6 shows the tool 70 mounted on a roof.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,311,670, issued to I. Tomoiaga, discloses a shingle alignment tool 12 for use by a single installer for aligning a row of shingles to be fastened to a roof. The alignment tool 12 is shown in FIG. 7, and includes a pair of brackets that fit snugly against the lower edge of an already-fastened shingle. The tool also includes an upper edge that allows the shingles to be fastened to be quickly placed thereagainst for proper alignment.
With each of the conventional devices described above, there exist several problems in that these devices need to be aligned with an already-fastened row of shingles to be able to work properly. Also, these devices do not allow for the application of an entire row of shingles, but only allow for a portion of a row to be installed. Once the portion of the row has been installed, the devices must be dismounted and/or moved to another location to continue the placement of the next row of shingles onto the roof.